Georgia Town Offers Amazon Namesake City in HQ Bid

Leaders in the town of Stonecrest, Ga., approved a plan that allows for a 345-acre plot of land to be named after the Internet giant in exchange for its second U.S. headquarters.

by Rami Grunbaum, The Seattle Times
/
October 4, 2017

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(TNS) -- Denver, Detroit, Rhode Island and Bothell, lay down your Amazon HQ2 application forms and give up now: A town outside Atlanta has surely clinched the multibillion-dollar deal for the technology titan’s second headquarters with its novel proposal.

The town of Stonecrest, which just elected its first city council and mayor in March, approved on Monday a plan to carve off 345 acres on which Amazon could have a city named after itself.

“There are several major U.S. cities that want Amazon, but none has the branding opportunity we are now offering this visionary company,” said Stonecrest Mayor Jason Lary, reported the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s website. “How could you not want your 21st century headquarters to be located in a city named Amazon?”

Stonecrest, in southeast DeKalb County, joins more than 130 other municipalities, states and provinces eager to host the e-commerce titan’s plan for a second headquarters equal in stature to the Seattle original and employing up to 50,000 people.

At first glance, the town appears to lack some of Amazon’s desired characteristics — for instance, Atlanta’s MARTA light rail system does not extend that far — but apparently it is business-friendly.

The city government’s website opens with a photo of the new council’s swearing-in last May but then moves quickly to a slide that declares “Shop the Mall at Stonecrest.”

That mall features Macy’s, Sears, Dillard’s and JC Penney. Presumably, though, the council is planning to cut a hunk off some other corner of the town for Amazon.